Name/Title
Greensboro Album 01, Photo 32 - Hostetler Blind FamilyEntry/Object ID
2021.13.32Description
Locally-famed Hostetler Blind Family of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Several of the children in this family were born blind, specifically anophthalmic (without eyeballs). Three of the children born with this condition (Catherine, Bartholomew, and John) and another sibling who became blind (Jesse Samuel) joined together to form a famous quartet of blind musicians. They were the children of Daniel and Mary (Gibbons) Hostetler.
In this image it appears that the three blind brothers and one blind sister (damaged area of photo) are photographed with another sister who was not blind.
Researcher Derek Pegritz provided the following identifications, believed to be [Left-Right]:
BACK ROW - Unidentified sister, Bartholomew Hostetler;
FRONT ROW - Catherine Hostetler, Jesse Samuel "Blind Sam" Hostetler, John Hostetler.
Also see item # CAND_AN007_0001_0023 and item # CLOW-AN002-0001.
Original, no photographer listed.Photograph Details
Type of Photograph
Cabinet CardCollection
Monon Center CollectionMade/Created
Date made
circa 1880 - circa 1900Lexicon
Search Terms
Music, Hostetler family, BlindOther Names and Numbers
Other Number
MONO-AN001-0032Provenance
Provenance Detail
Greensboro Album 01 - Monon Center CollectionAcquisition Method
DigitalAcquisition Date
2021Notes
Greensboro Album 01 is a cabinet card size photograph album. It was archived at the Monon Center and shared with the Greene Connections: Greene County, Pennsylvania Archives Project for digital preservation and access in 2021. No provenance or ownership history is known, but items included mention the Rumble and Vance families; photographs that have been identified based on comparison to other known images, include the Birch and Jones families; and photographer stamps strongly represent Greensboro in Monongahela Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania, as well as several nearby communities.
Source Citation: Greensboro Album 01, Photo 32 - Hostetler Blind Family of Fayette County, Pennsylvania; circa 1880-1900; item no. MONO-AN001-0032, Monon Center Collection, Greene Connections: Greene County, Pennsylvania Archives Project (www.GreeneConnections.com).